Knowledge Can Be the Difference Between Life or Death

For my birthday in 1991 my brother gave me what is without doubt one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, Step In The Arena by Gang Starr. In fact this album was selected as one of The Source’s 100 Best Hip Hop Albums in 1998 and in 2007, it was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by IGN.com. My reason for talking about this album is actually a sample used at the beginning of the song “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight”.

“Knowledge is power, and knowledge can be the difference between life or death…you should know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

America is the fattest nation in the world. Over 100 million Americans are overweight or obese. 60% of all US adults are overweight or obese.

Around half of British adults are overweight, and 17 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women are obese.

More people are dying in Britain due to being overweight or obese than anywhere else in Europe.

Around one in every 11 deaths in the UK is now linked to carrying excess fat.

In the film “Super Size Me”, Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days to understand the impact this would have on his body. So what happened to Morgan Spurlock as a result of his 30 day experiment eating nothing but McDonald’s?

After 30 days:

Morgan Spurlock gained 24.5 pounds (nearly 2 stone!).

Morgan Spurlock’s liver turned to fat

Morgan Spurlock’s cholesterol shot up 65 points.

Morgan Spurlock had an 11-15% body fat increase.

Morgan Spurlock nearly doubled his risk of coronary heart disease.

Morgan Spurlock became depressed and exhausted

Morgan Spurlock’s sex life was non-existent

Morgan Spurlock had bad mood swings

Morgan Spurlock had massive cravings and massive headaches.

Let’s compare this with the experience of Phil Staples, the morbidly obese truck driver featured in the film “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”. When he first featured in the film Phil Staples weighed in at 429 lbs (30 Stone 9 lbs); a cheeseburger away from a heart-attack. In “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” Phil Staples went on a juice fast. I personally started juicing back in 2010 and have many debates since then with people concerned that juicing is dangerous or unhealthy. So what happened to Phil Staples as a result of his juice fast?

Phil Staples’ triglycerides, which measure fats in the body went from 216 to 161. 161 is almost in the normal range.

Phil Staples also was able to lower the medication he was taking for urticaria, a skin rash notable for pale red, raised, itchy bumps.

Phil Staples continued his juice fast for 60 days, after which Phil has mainly eaten a plant based diet with the occasional treat. Phil Staples’ urticaria is in remission and he’s no longer taking any medication for it. After just 10 months, Phil Staples had lost 202 lbs and was down to a much healthier weight of 227 lbs (16 Stone 3 lbs). Remember, before Phil Staples started the juice fast, he weighed 429 lbs (30 Stone 9 lbs).

For more knowledge I strongly recommend watching both of these films. The knowledge you gain might inspire you to make some choices that really could be the difference between life and death.